


Revise

by Velgamidragon



Series: Meta Encounters [3]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: AI family reunion, Broken Mind, Canon Compliant, Fear, Gen, M/M, Mentions Past Torture, No Memory, Rebuilding, Unconsciousness, carwash siblings, past betrayal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 05:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4168191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velgamidragon/pseuds/Velgamidragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The third time Wash encounters the Meta, he has the upper hand. The Meta is low on power and not expecting him, and he attacks. He doesn't know what his arrival interrupted inside the Meta's mind, but this is the first time the Meta lands a full-on blow against him, and worse, Wash thought he saw Maine in the Meta's movements in the second the blow was struck before the Meta takes off again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revise

**Author's Note:**

> This one was a little tough to write out. This one takes place pretty much exclusively in episode 8. Not as much Wash in this one, but Delta and Tex get to take the spotlight.
> 
>  _ **//Theta talks like this//**_  
>  _//Sigma talks like this//_  
>  **//Omega talks like this//**  
>  //Delta and Tex talk like this//  
>  _//E **t**_ A _a_ N **d _I_** O _t_ a **t _a_ L**k _L_ **i _k_** E t **h** _Is//_  
>  And Gamma doesn't talk in this chapter.

Not a sound could be heard throughout the power facility, save for the steady thrum of generators, the whirring of fans, and the soft _whoosh_ of the giant windmill outside while the Meta worked on the system’s computer to setup both the armor recharge and to increase its armor’s maximum energy capacity in order to be able to use all of the high energy-demanding equipment it had at its disposal. The Meta preferred it silent like this. It couldn’t be loud anyway because all of the Reds stationed here are dead too, but that wasn’t the point. Silence meant no distractions and the Meta was making good use of its spare time while it waited for the armor’s energy readings started to fill up to their new maximum. As pleased as the Meta was to have broken Agent Maine, it did not know how exactly his mental fragmentation would affect his body or even the rest of the mind, and that could potentially alter the Meta’s complete control over him. The Meta was testing his mental and physical reactions one piece at a time, starting with Project Freelancer.

Dark. Dark emptiness. Empty oblivion.

There’s nothing here. Where is here? He doesn’t know.

Maine. He’s Maine. And Meta. Both. Two names. Both his. Maine Meta.

There were sounds earlier. Explosions. Shouts.

Silence. Gone now.

A face appears. A female with gray eyes and dark brown hair. She wears brown armor.

He likes her. She’s betrayal and hurts.

He tries to turn away. Tries to hide.

She goes. Nothing.

She’s nameless. Like the others.

A male brunette with a bad eye. Idiot and guilt.

A tall, curly blond man. Like, pain, and guilt.

A girl with the same blond. Bitch and concern and regret.

A man with an incredible mustache. Not-funny prick.

A new face appears.

A redheaded woman with bright green eyes. She’s admiration.

She’s guilt and grief and hurts. She hurts so much.

She disappears too.

He releases a shuddering sigh.

The Other does this.

He doesn’t see it. Knows it’s here. Just like the shimmering fragments.

They’re tiny. Look like stars. Shimmer like glass.

Sometimes one touches him.

It glows white. Melts into his skin. He remembers.

Two times. Two things. Insurrectionist bombings. Cat pictures.

He doesn’t understand.

“Now!”

Maine freezes. That voice. Familiar.

The Meta jumps and whirls around at the familiar voice. It barely moves away from the glowing blue plasma grenade that Agent Washington just threw. Agent Washington screams “Move up!” and jumps down from the upper landing. The Meta starts shooting and Agent Washington avoids the blasts, ending up on the ground just right of the giant crate. It didn’t expect Agent Washington to have arrived so quickly; it doesn’t have nearly enough power for the armor enhancements and it’s not ready to deal with him yet.

The Meta had made a mistake.

After the voice. The familiar voice. The Other startles and leaves.

But it pulls him too. Maine follows. He can’t stop.

He can’t see!

It’s bright. So bright.

And very loud. So loud.

He’s lost.

He knows it’s not memory. Where is it? What is it?

He’s moving. How? It’s different.

In front of him, something’s moving.

It’s fast and gray. He holds a different weapon.

They dance around each other, with Agent Washington moving quickly to avoid the explosive rounds, but unable to move closer or get a good aim on the Meta because of his own necessary rapid movements. It becomes easier when the brute shot is out of ammo – the Meta has no time to reload it because Agent Washington is pressing his advantage – and the Meta leaps backward as it's forced to switch to the pistol.

Smoke clears. He sees clearly. The gray armor and yellow accents.

Maine freezes again. His body still moves.

He knows him.

He’s love.

He’s betrayal and fear and guilt.

He remembers. He thinks?

_A faceless visor._

_A pistol aimed._

_“You’re just a monster that needs to be put down. Looks like that’s up to me.”_

He panics.

The gray one punches him in the face.

He’s too close.

The gray one’s trying to kill him!

His fear strengthens him. He moves his legs backward. He moves his arm.

Maine doesn’t even realize that he tossed Sigma and the other AIs out of the way like a bunch of ragdolls. Sigma’s shock lasts only for a second before he moves to take control back from Agent Maine, only to find that he can’t. In this state, Agent Maine’s mind is not susceptible to the same stimuli anymore and Agent Maine’s absolute terror of Agent Washington is giving him the strength and overwhelming adrenaline to fight back and resist him. This exact reason was why he had been steadily introducing Agent Maine to images of old friends to test his reactions. Agent Washington’s premature arrival had (caught him off-guard and) interrupted that process and now he couldn’t control Agent Maine.

Maine grabs the brute shot.

He slams the gray one with it and all his strength.

The gray one falls backward. Hits the fence. Grasps at the links to keep upright.

Maine slashes backward. Knocks the gray one to the floor.

He backs away from the gray one. Washington, he remembers. He’s shaking and scared.

He runs.

Runs out of the building.

Runs fast and far.

Runs away from Washington.

“Don’t just stand there! After it!” Washington yells.

Maine doesn’t stop. Keeps running.

A grenade goes off behind him.

**()()()()()**

Washington sits up and exhales slowly as he presses one hand along his chest, feeling for any possible cracks or fissures in the armor where the Meta struck him. There’s a light scratch where the blade dragged across and his chest feels bruised from the impact, but he’s surprisingly well off. That slash attack had carried the full weight of… of Maine’s classic full-body punches, and it even moved the same as him for that one moment. He’d know; he’d sparred with him, with Maine, so many times before. The fact that Wash got off with only an armor scratch and a semi-light bruise is ridiculously lucky.

“Just do it!” Church yells and he sees Church take off in the direction the Meta fled, Caboose and Delta moving onward and disappearing from his line of sight on the upper level. Wash thought he heard Delta say they were going to try and flank right.

He grits his teeth, exhales again, then finally stands up and runs after Church. His mind is focused back on his mission objective to take down the Meta. He’s not thinking about how the Meta moved just like how Maine used to for a split second and he’s not thinking about how this is the first time the Meta has actually struck a deliberate, full-handed blow against him. He has a job to do. A mission to accomplish.

**()()()()()**

Maine’s outside.

It’s even brighter. Almost blinding.

A sniper round fires.

He runs through the windmill.

Someone shouts “Damn it!” Not familiar.

Pain sears through his right foot. He was shot.

He yelps. It comes out like a wounded growl.

He keeps running.

He won’t stop.

//Maine! Listen to me! Calm the fuck down, so I can talk to you!//

He pauses. That voice. Female. Familiar. Who?

Avoids the open sand path to the beach. Turns into dark side passage.

Doesn’t stop. Slows down.

//That’s better big guy. You can keep running, okay, just listen to what I say.//

A black figure appears in front.

He startles and halts momentarily.

It wears black armor. It’s transparent. It’s familiar.

It tilts its head. A cocky female voice says //Hi. Remember me?// 

Eyes widen. He does! A black-armored woman.

She’s strong. She’s protection. She’s safe.

//Aww, that’s sweet of you, Maine.//

She removes her helmet.

Long blond hair, fair skin, blue-gray eyes revealed.

She’s different.

She’s love and grief and pain.

Doesn’t know her.

But they’re the same woman.

//I know it’s hard to take in, and it doesn’t help that I have a lot of names. I am an AI called Beta, this face belongs to a woman called Allison, the woman whom I was based on, and in Project Freelancer, you knew me by the name Agent Texas. That’s my preferred name. We good so far?//

Maine understands.

He’s good.

She smirks. //Great. Let’s continue this conversation inside.//

She disappears from view. He feels an internal tug. He follows the pull.

He sees her again. Wearing her helmet. He can’t see outside anymore. That’s okay.

Texas grabs his hand. Leads the way. He trusts her.

What Maine doesn’t know that Tex is fully aware of is that her role in calming Maine down and removing him from being forcefully in direct control and aware of the outside world means that Sigma can step in and regain control of the Meta. She knows this, and yet it doesn’t stop her from doing it anyway, regardless of the consequences of Sigma’s control on the rest of the world.

She brings Maine back to his hiding place in the dark recesses of his mind, out of the way of the other AIs and it saddens her to see all the tiny little slivers floating around. They’re everywhere honestly, but they’re most concentrated here, where Maine’s mind completely shattered under Sigma’s, Omega’s, and Gamma’s scenario, just like with Alpha, with Church. And just like with Alpha, she didn’t know about the torture until after it was already done and she was helpless to fix it.

She sighs heavily then turns back to Maine. He’s just a shadow here, much like she herself is, but she can read the open trust in his eyes. She wonders why he feels that way; she was never close to anyone on the _Mother of Invention_ , except Carolina (she understands why), but there was always a competitive streak that got in the way. There were also times she felt an exasperated, but tender fondness for Wash’s antics that none of the other Freelancers could ever bring about in her (she understands that as well). But Maine… she wasn’t around long before the Sarcophagus mission that cost him his voice and led to his implantation with Sigma. It honestly wouldn’t surprise her if some of this trust that Maine felt for her was leftover residue of the other AIs’ love and obsession with Allison. She certainly didn’t think he knew she was based off of David’s mother. Not even Wash knew- well, not _before_ Epsilon anyway.

//Alright Maine, you’re safe here. No one is going to hurt you, I promise. If anyone comes along looking for a fight, then they’ll have to go through me first// she tells him.

He nods in understanding, but she doesn’t find what she’s looking for. A flicker of recollection in his eyes, a smirk of remembrance, anything that might indicate that he knows how strong she is, or was, from the Project, but there’s nothing. Tex takes his large, cold hands in hers and stares up at him. She doesn’t want to give Sigma more control, but she doesn’t want Maine broken like this either. She’s fond of the big guy; it’s hard not to be when she knows he’s her son’s former lover.

The only reason he isn’t still is because the Meta put an end to that. //Maine, I’m going to show you something. It’s a picture of a person’s face. You don’t remember, I know, but you know this person; you have good memories with him.//

She didn’t give him the memory from his own shattered collection (even she couldn’t have found it if she looked), but she gives him the picture of a face from her own memory banks. Tex offers it to him like she would physically hand over a document. As soon as Maine’s fingers grasp it, it dissolves into pixels around his hands and his eyes take on a lost, faraway look. Tex hopes she’s doing the right thing here.

Texas offers something.

A file?

Maine’s wary, but trusts her.

He takes it. The file dissolves. Pixilates.

Sees something new. Texas disappears

Pixels for a picture. It’s a young man.

Wild blond hair, gray eyes, many freckles, wide smile.

Looks like Allison.

He knows him.

He’s trust and sweetness and love.

His heart melts.

//His name is David// Texas’s voice says. Still can’t see her. //He’s my son. Some time ago, you two were lovers, but you were separated by external forces. It’s been a long time since you’ve seen each other, but I know David still loves you.//

Maine stares at the picture. Brushes fingers against one freckled cheek.

 _David…_ he breathes.

He loves him. He feels it.

Can’t remember. Aches for more.

_Tell me?_

//Okay. I’ll tell you everything I can about David. I don’t have many memories of you two together, but they’re all here. All your memories of David, what he told you, what you told him, and all the time you shared are here inside your head. You just have to find them, but yes, Maine… I’ll talk about David. He loved cats and was always bringing strays home…//

And she talks. Her knowledge and her memory of Allison’s son is pitiful and she knows Maine knew David better than she, Tex, ever did, but for Maine – right now knowing nothing – her words are enough. She talks about little thing. Like how easily-flushed and squeaky David gets when he’s embarrassed. How his favorite color is red because of his sister’s hair. How he was super-talented with a skateboard and liked to show off his favorite tricks. How he still kept his stupid little rubber ducky as an adult because Allison got it for him and used to play with it with him after his baths when he was little. She doesn’t talk about Washington at all. David is not Washington.

She has to stop when she realizes what’s going on outside Maine’s head. Sigma just knocked out Caboose and he’s going after Delta. Tex bites her lip and quickly explains to Maine that she’ll be back, but she has to take care of something first. Just think of David in the meantime. Maine nods and smiles and she can’t help but smile back for a moment. She knows he’s only too happy to think about the one person that means the most the most to him, even though his mind is broken and his body is being controlled by the Meta. He’ll be okay here.

**()()()()()**

When Delta saw the Meta, even before Caboose was knocked out, he knew his time was up. He had run from Agent Washington to Agent South and finally to Caboose. There is nowhere left to go now, no way to escape, but he is okay with that. Actually, if he is being perfectly honest with himself, this could not have turned out more perfectly. He is the first fragment to have been partnered with a Freelancer and he is the last to be collected by the Meta. Well… he is the last out in the field, anyway. But all is well. Once he is gone, the Meta will have no more reason to hunt these people, and will have no reason to look closely at the Blue simulation trooper in cobalt armor. Delta feels something like triumph surge through his code as he remembers what all his data led him to conclude. After all this time, _he_ found the Alpha, and he is the only one who knows. That is why it is his responsibility to lead the Meta away from this group, away from the Alpha.

The Meta stops before Caboose’s unconscious form and Delta materializes in front of it. He surrenders. His message is inside Caboose’s mind where only the Alpha can find it, and written in such a way that only Agent Washington can understand it. He has done all he can. The Meta can have him.

Delta does not have enough data to predict what the Meta’s reaction will be to his surrender. It may simply remove him from Caboose’s head and insert him into Maine’s along with the other AI fragments, and leave Caboose alone. It may take him and then kill Caboose (given that it did not kill Agent South when it took Theta from Agent North, this may be less likely). Sigma may even holographically-project himself from the armor to talk to him from the second fragment to the first before removing him from Caboose.

He does not expect for Agent Texas _(Allison! His core temperature heats up momentarily – the AI-equivalent of a blush)_ to be the first AI he meets.

Delta barely gets a glimpse of her when she sends him a quick message, //Block the others when you’re added. Establish neutrality with Sigma. Find me.//

He just finishes processing the message when the other AI fragments that the Meta has gathered slowly materialize all around him. Eta and Iota appear shortly after Texas and on the opposite side of her, but they have merged and combined into one and look to be in pretty bad shape. Their time with the Meta has not been kind. Theta appears on Eta/Iota’s left followed immediately by Sigma on their right. He is bright and intense and the look of smug triumph on his face is unsettling. Sigma’s entrance is the prelude to the other two terrible fragments. Gamma appears behind him between Theta and Texas and Omega is last to materialize between Texas and Sigma. They are all talking to him all at once. It is… a little overwhelming.

_**//Delta. Join us, Delta.//**_

_//Help us, now.//_

**_//It’s so good to see you, Delta.//_**

**//Delta.//**

**_//Delta.//_**

// _S **o**_ g _O **o**_ D _t_ **o _S_** e _e_ **_y_ O**u _a_ G _ **a** I_n.//

**_//Deeeltaaaa!//_**

**//Welcome home, Delta.//**

**_//We missed you, Delta! We missed you, Delta.//_**

There is only one thing that Delta can say in response to all of this and his answer is still the same as before. //Very well// he says. //I will willingly join with you and the Meta.//

That is apparently all the Meta needs to hear. It kneels down next to Caboose and removes Delta from the Blue’s neural implants. Delta’s awareness goes dark momentarily and then he comes back online inside the Meta, inside Agent Maine’s head. He expects the damage. If three minds were too taxing for Agent Carolina, then he can only imagine how seven (now eight) minds would affect Agent Maine's. He expects the damage, and yet he is still shocked by the extent of it. Caboose’s mind is big and convoluted, but mostly empty. Agent Maine’s mind is a vast, dark, expansive void by comparison, littered with tiny sharp fragments of something everywhere that resembles twinkling stars and the only distinguishing motes of color present in this darkness belong to his brothers and Texas.

He remembers what she told him when she appeared before him in her AI form for the first time.

Before the other AIs can make a move towards him, Delta quickly erects a firewall between them and gives it the visual form of an opaque mirror. He immediately begins to explain before the others (particularly Sigma or Omega) decide to do something about the wall on their own terms.

//I have willingly surrendered myself to the Meta// he states. //The simulation trooper is already knocked out and injured and it is 96% unlikely that he will pose a threat to us, especially in his current state. That being said: with such a low threat level, I request that the simulation trooper be spared to conserve both time and ammunition. Armor readings indicate that the Meta is still fairly low on power, and the Meta needs all the time it can get in order to return to full-capacity, especially while Agent Washington is still in the vicinity. That being said, I will not interfere with the Meta’s goals, but I would like to be given time away from the rest of you in order to acclimate myself to Agent Maine’s mind as well as to the reality of living together alongside fellow AI fragments.//

This is the most Gamma-like he has ever spoken. He is not Deceit, but that does not mean that he is incapable of lying. What he said was not untrue, but he was hiding his true motivations by redirecting his fellow AIs to a different line of reasoning. The only question is whether they – or specifically Sigma – will buy it.

Sigma steps forward and waves his hand in what is meant to be interpreted as ‘a reassuring manner’. _//That’s just like you to be so logical and comprehending of new situations, Delta. Very well, we’ll leave you alone to become acclimated for the time being. I’ll make sure of it.//_

He does as he promises and Delta feels weary resignation as he watches Theta make a weak reach for him before Sigma herds him away. Theta is one of the gentle AIs along with Eta and Iota. Living with the Meta must have been hard on Theta; it certainly has been on the other two – they are so degraded they have merged into one entity to compensate for each others’ loss.

When Delta is finally well and truly alone, he looks about the great darkness, searching for some kind of indication to let him know where Texas is or where she went so that he may follow. Just as he is starting to think he will have to come through Agent Maine’s entire mind to find her, a blip pops up in his awareness like a marker on a map. He deftly removes the security layers and finds it is a homing beacon and Texas is tagged. He can find her now. Delta quickly scans the environment. None of the other AIs are nearby and the Meta is heading back to the generator room to reach full power. It is sufficiently distracted from paying attention to him. He follows the beacon and the already-present darkness somehow appears to become even more oppressive and overbearing the deeper he goes. There are no landmarks to measure the distance he travels, but he eventually sees something a halo of white light growing larger as he draws nearer. It is Texas.  
He stands next to her, and she’s much easier to see up close, but she is still black armor in a black space, and the white glow of her holographic self is the only way he can make out her entire figure.

//Good, you found your way here without getting lost// she says and the tilt of her head and the tone of her voice indicates to Delta that she’s probably smiling, or rather smirking.

As much as he wants to (because she is pushing his buttons and that provokes his ire – and subconscious memory – to snip back at her in a way he has never experienced before), Delta does not bother to voice that the odds of getting ‘lost’ while following a straight line through the non-substantial matter of the mind are ridiculously low. He has more important things on his mind for the moment.

//Why did you wish for me to meet you, Agent Texas?// he asks.

Texas sighs and her helmeted head lowers. //Come on, follow me. I need to show you something. I’ll explain on the way.//

She moves away and Delta follows her, trusting that she knows where she is going as she leads him further down into the darkness and waits for her explanation.

//You’ve been inside Caboose’s head, right?// she asks.

Delta gives her a blank stare through his Mk V helmet. //You already know this.//

//Pretty empty inside?//

//Yes. It looks fairly recent, like within the past year or two.//

//Yeeah, that’s partially my fault. He had three AIs in his head at one point for a short time, and then also suffered oxygen deprivation later.//

He wants to ask who the other two AIs were, but he holds his tongue. Instead, he says //Oh. I see. So that was the cause of the emptiness.//

//Hm. And now you’ve seen Maine’s mind. How would you describe it?//

Delta looks around at the nothingness for a moment. //Oblivion// he decides.

//This is recent// Texas says with a gesture. //It has not even been twenty-four hours since Sigma, Omega, and Gamma did this. All the tiny star-like fragments you see? They were the landscape of Maine’s mind and everything he was before they shattered it. He wasn’t doing well in here, especially once Omega, Gamma, and I moved in, but he was holding on and protecting the most important parts of himself even while the rest of his mind was ravaged. He did a much better job of protecting his core being than Caboose at any rate. But after the incident with South and the time distortion unit, Sigma was _pissed_. He’s been trying to kill Wash because he’s the one person that Maine has actually been able to fight off Sigma’s control for, and Sigma decided he was fed up with that. He figured the only way he could stop Maine from interfering with killing Wash was by taking Maine apart. Once the Meta escaped, Sigma gathered Gamma and Omega together and they created a scenario that tortured Maine into fragmenting, just like what they did with Alpha.//

Delta takes the information, processes it, and lets it sink in for a moment. There is a question there. He turns to her and asks //What is your motivation for telling me this, Agent Texas?//

She gives a dry laugh. //You’re a smart one, D.//

Texas reaches up for a fragment, grips it between her thumb and forefinger, and unexpectedly pulls it down and across like a giant sheet of paper. Beyond the hidden entrance is a room. A small room and still dark, but lighter inside, and Agent Maine is sitting within wearing a white t-shirt that looks tight on him and black gym shorts with white socks. Delta never saw him in civilian wear on the _Mother of Invention_. Agent Maine looks too… domestic from what he remembers of the man. The only things that are the same are his physical stature, his face, and his completely shaved head. There is some semblance of shape to the room. Not much of one and there are empty shadows along the walls, but it feels… warm and… safe? The concept is rather abstract for him, but he remembers the feeling from York and he thinks he understands. This is Agent Maine’s sanctuary. Well, what is left of it anyway… Agent Maine looks at them when they enter. There is recognition in his eyes and a warm smile on his face when he sees Texas. Then he sees him and Agent Maine’s head tilts sideways, looking at him curiously. His expression is a confusing combination of a smile and a frustrated frown, before finally settling on weary bemused.

//Great! Maine has good memories of you// Texas says to Delta’s left and she sounds relieved. He looks at her inquisitively. //The Meta really messed him up, Delta. Some things that he remembers are blends of his own memories and those of the AIs and the scenario messed him up so much that he’s terrified of _Wash_ now.//

Delta’s eyes widen behind his helmet. //That _is_ most alarming// he agrees. //But you still have not answered my original question.//

She turns away from Agent Maine completely and stares intently at him through her visor. //I want you to stay near him, Delta. I want you to stay near him and keep him stable because you are calm and logical. He literally can’t remember anything, so tell him stories from Project Freelancer, or facts if you prefer. That’s what he needs the most right now.//

Delta tilts his head and gives her a sidelong stare. //Agent Texas, if I may. In Agent Maine’s current chaotic state of mind, stabilizing him as you suggest will only make him more tractable and controllable to the Meta. I am sure you are aware of that and yet you still wish to go through with this plan of yours for what purpose?//

She goes still for so long that he starts to consider the increasing likelihood that she is going to ‘beat the ever-loving shit out of him’ when she sighs heavily and turns away. //It’s our fault this happened to him in the first place, Delta. I keep failing people: Carolina, CT, Wash, York, Maine, and even _him._ // Delta looks at her sharply and she nods in confirmation. Alpha. //I just want something to go right for once.//

Delta takes that in and nods in understanding. He cannot say he is surprised. That is just who she is. //Very well, Agent Texas. I will stay and talk to Agent Maine and attempt to stabilize him to the best of my ability.//

She takes one of his hands in hers and squeezes. He thinks she must be smiling behind her helmet and that… pleases him. //Thanks Delta. I’ll send you a warning if any of the other AIs are looking for you or starting to get suspicious about your absence.//

//I appreciate your consideration// Delta replies. She disappears immediately after and he is left alone in the darkness of the Agent Maine’s safe room with what little that remains of Agent Maine. Tell him stories and facts, she said. That would be simple enough. //Hello Agent Maine// Delta says as he steps forward and gains the big man’s attention. //I am the AI known as Delta, assigned to Agent Foxtrot 12 or Agent York as you knew him.//

As Delta talks about the Freelancers, he notices that Agent Maine’s memory fragments are starting to drift in a pattern. They vaguely create a slow, lazy, rather bloated spiral formation and he watches as some fragments drift close together and rebound while others flare brightly upon contact and create one larger fragment when the light fades. Curious, Delta reaches out to touch one of the larger memory pieces near him to see what it is. His holographic fingers, that feel so much more real than he knows them to be, brush against the smooth surface and the information he receives is very odd and very little. It is simply a picture each of North’s and South’s faces along with their names and identifying them as twins. It is not written out or spoken like that in words; it is much more like a concept or idea. It makes little sense to Delta how such memories could communicate any kind of real information, but they _are_ memories. Memories are hardly logical or reliable. He watches with interest as a fragment – a different big one – actually bumps into Agent Maine’s left leg. It glows a bright white on his skin and then flattens against the limb and melts into his body. He wonders which new memory Agent Maine has now.

Maine remembers. It’s something new. It’s a lot!

The brown-haired, bad-eyed man. Guilt idiot.

He’s York. He picks locks. He sucks at it.

Maine snorts, amused.

He doesn’t know why.

//What do you remember, Agent Maine?// Delta asks.

Maine looks up. Smirks at the green AI.

 _York_ he answers. _Lock skills suck._

Delta’s pleased smile is completely hidden from the world.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing from Delta's POV and I actually enjoyed it immensely. He's fun. :)  
> Also, I headcanon that York's identifier as "Foxtrot 12" is the first initial of his name and his recruitment number because I've only ever heard Delta call him that, and he also stated it first before giving the State codename that we're all familiar with in the Recovery One mini-series when Wash gave him the command to identify himself. Using the same name scheme, Texas would then be Agent Alfa 50 (for Allison: 50th Freelancer - the most recent)


End file.
